Hostage
by MariSunny
Summary: A 16year old Landmark City University student gets captured by Lee and the Muteam... Accidentally! Now she has to live as a hostage with 5 unbearable creatures and a man she had idolized for a long time... Let the madness begin!COMPLETE!Arc2:Second Chance
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own A.T.O.M. and never will. Unfortunately. But I do own the idea of this fic and the new characters I introduced.

A/N: Hello everyone! My name is Sunny and I'm here to present you my newest story, "Hostage". This is my first A.T.O.M. fic, so I'd really appreciate your comments and opinions! They help me to improve my writing.

This story is set in season 2, somewhere after episode 6 or 7. A teenage student from Landmark City University gets captured by Lee and the Mu-team… Accidentally. Let the madness begin!

Hostage.

Chapter One.

Nighttime was falling on Landmark City, driving some of its inhabitants to their homes and others – to places not so quiet. It was a typical Friday evening, when everyone rejoiced at the end of the week and at the upcoming weekend. This was especially true for the Landmark University Campus residents, who were not only eager to get involved in as much parties and drinking contests as possible, but were also seeing forward to a two-months break from their studies. After all, summer vacations are summer vacations.

However, that particular Friday night there were some campus residents who were left out of the partying business. Those were several students from economics, as well as bio-tech, faculties who were drop dead tired after two weeks of none-stop exams. And by the moment the campus hall clock stroke eleven, everyone, except for two, had already disappeared to their rooms.

The said two students were both form the economics faculty, having had recently suffered, and not for the first time, the horrors of preparations for the June exam session and the horrors of the session itself. The situation was especially horrible for these two, since they were among the top students and preferred to keep it that way.

"So, do you think you've made it?" asked an eighteen year old girl with brown straight hair and pale green eyes, addressing her friend, a girl of seventeen with black eyes, tanned golden-peach skin, and long curly hair, originally dark, but now of a very light color due to prolonged exposure to sun. The girl laughed.

"Well, I hope it's an A!" she answered. Her friend laughed in return.

"Say, Sophie, is it true that your father is actually paying you for your grades?" the green-eyed girl asked.

"Yep, it sure is," Sophie answered, "but it's not as it sounds: we don't have any tariffs or anything. It's just my constant good grades earn me a constant access to quite a large portion of our family funds."

Both girls laughed.

"And you, Krista? What about you? Which exam was the hardest to prepare for you?" Sophie asked, resuming their conversation.

Krista gave her friend a questioning, yet bored look.

"Isn't that obvious?" she asked darkly.

"Business accounting?"

"Wow! Nice guess!" Krista cheered sarcastically. Sophie laughed again.

"You hate the subject," that was more of a statement than a question.

"And who doesn't?" the words came before Krista thought them through. Sophie inclined her head to the right a bit and put on a bored expression of her own.

"Ahem."

"Oohps, sorry, I forgot," Krista put her hands up in mock defence, "it's one of your favorite s…"

"It's NOT one of my favorite subjects!" Sophie exclaimed in an annoyed tone.

"Ok, ok, but you are still among a few who can tolerate him. He's such a bore!" Krista answered, referring to their business accounting teachers. The girls laughed again.

The clock in the main hall chimed a quarter past eleven. Krista yawned tiredly.

"Ok," she said sleepily, "I think I shall go now. I'm way too tired from all of this."

"Yeah, me too," answered Sophie.

"Goodnight then," Krista called turning around and leaving for her room, which was on the next floor.

"'Night," Sophie answered. She turned around and pushed the nearest door open to reveal a small but cozy room with a bed, a night stand, wardrobe with a few drawers and an office table opposite the window, piled with books and different papers. Near the table stood a small garbage basket half filled with papers.

The lamp on the table was turned on, dimly lighting the room. Sophie closed the door and looked around. Everything seemed to be fine. She walked to her table and started sorting out books and putting them away. After that she decided to turn in for the night. However, something else caught her eye: a roughly but thoroughly crumpled piece of paper lay behind her table, right under the window.

''Must've not noticed that earlier,' the girl thought as she walked around the table and picked up the litter. Sophie started to carefully unfold the piece of paper, which turned out to be quite a large one. She did it out of a habit: she always looked her papers through before throwing them out. What if she threw out something important?

Meanwhile, the piece of paper turned out to be a page from a broadsheet newspaper, "LC Daily". The page was in fact the front cover of a month old issue, dated May 17th. The first thing Sophie noticed was a large photo of a man with short blonde hair in a business suit, wearing wide glasses. Above the picture was a heading:

'_**JANUS LEE A GENIUS DEVIL?**_

_**As reported by witnesses, yesterday afternoon industrialist and scientist Janus Lee has left his office and mansion with a strange creature claimed by some rumors to be one of his employee's clone'.**_

Sophie's grip on the paper tightened as she read further:

'_Mr.Janus Lee, a renowned and well-respected business man and scientist was reported to have left his mansion right before an underground level of it was destroyed by a mysterious explosion. It is also said that Mr.Lee had put himself under a dangerous and seemingly __unauthorized experiment, which has gone wrong. His behavior was reported inadequate and hostile._

'_A speaker from Lee Industries board of directors made an official announcement, in which he declared that Lee had been making unauthorized research in cloning during the course of the year and is believed to have succeeded in producing a clone of one of his former employee's, Axel Manning._

'_Lee was officially stripped of all his authority in Lee Industries and all of his property has passed to the local government…'_

Enough was enough. Sophie felt rage and frustration building inside of her up till the level when she wanted to smash something… Something, like the face of a man who had written the article. Once again, Sophie crumpled the paper, crushing it in her hands as though it was made of finest steel. She now knew how this paper ended up on the floor behind her table: the first time she read that, she tore the page out of the newspaper and stood crumpling it for a long time and then finally threw it into the wall with as much force as she could.

This time, however, Sophie managed to contain her emotions to the level where she had enough patience to let the paper end up in a garbage can. With that done, the girl changed and went to bed without any further hesitation, her heart still filled with anger and frustration, and her mind – with memories.

…_She memorized well enough the moment when she first met him. The top students of LC University were carefully monitored by Lee Industries' special Training Program. It was aimed to encourage young teenagers to undertake senior education, enter universities and work their hardest, since they were later taken in by Lee Industries on coaching programs and later – on real, well-paid jobs. But only very few students, not more than seven out of two-three hundred, were actually lucky enough to be taken on an "excursion" __around LI and meeting Janus Lee himself having not yet reached at least the fourth course._

_She was in the middle of the first one, and she was invited…_

_And then she was introduced to him as a most brilliant first-year student on Economics&Business faculty. She considered herself the luckiest person in the world. It was the first bright moment of her life ever since her parents had divorced a year before, and she moved in with her dad, as they both left for Landmark City._

_She was the one who spoke to him most during their stay at LI. Other students were simply amazed at how she managed to talk the man in. But she had a privilege: she was smarter and more grown-up than anyone else. And Mr.Lee was actually amazed with that. He told her that he will ask the manager of the Program to keep a close eye on her, so that when she entered her last course she would be also taken in by Lee Industries to be trained by the specialists._

_She was charmed and fascinated by the man. Ever since then she almost turned into his fan, idolizing him like she idolized her father, watching out for every piece of information she could get on him…_

_And then, in the middle of May, the city nearly exploded with the news of "Lee being pure evil and madman". Upon learning that, Sophie became furious, frustrated and finally empty. She tried to find anything to justify the man's actions, but she knew that as hard as she may try, she would never be able to persuade others._

_So she had to live up with the harsh and painful truth that even if she did enter Lee Industries in three years, she would most probably never see Janus Lee himself again._

A/N: So… What do you think? blushes shyly" Please let me know!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own A.T.O.M. and never will. Unfortunately. But I do own the idea of this fic and the new characters I introduced.

A/N: I was not expecting a lot of reviews, but still I'm happy! Thanks a lot guys! You really make me happy!

This story is set in season 2, somewhere after episode 6 or 7. A teenage student from Landmark City University gets captured by Lee and the Mu-team… Accidentally! Let the madness begin!

Hostage.

Chapter Two.

Sophie woke up in the middle of the night. Something was wrong, that was the first thing she thought of. Usually nothing could possibly wake her up, and yet there she was sitting in her bed at… By the way, what's the time?...

'3 A.M.?!! What in the world can be going on in the University at 3 a.m. on Saturday morning?!' Sophie thought with annoyance. Then she heard muffled screams and shouts in the distance. There were also some other noises coming from outside the building. It seemed like there was some kind of a fight going on in the university.

The girl turned on the lamp on a bed-stand, quickly got up and started to change into the clothes she had dispatched a few hours ago: black jeans, red turtle neck top, a belt with a small Armani eagle engraved on it and a pair of black shoes on a comfortable yet elegant platform. She wasn't trying to put on anything fancy: she had no time and it was not the situation most appropriate to pick up a costume. This was just what she was wearing the day before and it lay on her armchair, so she didn't have to look through her wardrobe.

She quickly glanced into the mirror to put on her contact lenses and give a light touch to her hair, that she thankfully didn't manage to mess in her sleep. Sophie headed for the door, when an idea crossed her mind: she turned around picked up her bag, took out her cell phone, a credit card and a hundred dollar banknote. Stuffing that into her pockets and grabbing a black jeans jacket, she quickly ran off. All in all, her preparations took her about three minutes.

Sophie ran down the corridors of the campus, where sleepy students were slowly flooding out of their rooms, totally confused by all the commotion. Some of them however were fully dressed, since they had just returned from various parties and discos. Sophie ignored everyone and ran straight for her best friend Krista's room. Half way, she saw Krista herself, who was apparently heading for Sophie's room. She was wild awake herself, wearing blue jeans and a white zip-up sweater.

"Krista!"

"Sophie!"

"What's going on?!" they both exclaimed at the same time. In a different situation they would have both burst out laughing, but not now.

"I have no idea," Krista said quickly, "I woke up to the sound of shouting and fighting…"

"Me too," Sophie answered, resuming her running with Krista following closely, "And I think the noise is coming from the main building."

The girls kept on running. As they entered yet another corridor, one of the doors opened and a guy with messy hair, in pajamas with teddy bears and glasses. Most of those who knew him called him a freak or a nerd. The boy asked sleepily:

"Hey, what's all the commotion?"

"Later, Frank!" yelled the two girls as they ran past him. They never called him names, but they really had no time to explain anything to anyone.

Soon the two were out of the campus and running through the large square that separated campus from the university itself. As they were reaching the entrance they saw that the main doors were wide open, and several teachers ran out of the building, away into the darkness of the night. They were screaming and apparently very frightened by something. As the girls continued to run for the building, a few more people ran out.

"Sophie, wait! Look there!"

Krista stopped dead in her tracks, panting, and looked in the direction Krista was pointing. There were five vehicles standing on the square. It looked like somebody just dropped them there and ran off. Into the university perhaps. Somehow, the vehicles looked familiar to Sophie.

"I've seen those before," she said thoughtfully, frowning.

"Of course you did," exclaimed Krista, "Those are from Lee Industries. They belong to Axel Manning's team, remember, the ones who put Alexander Paine in jail?"

"Yes, of course, I remember," Sophie panted, "But what the hell are they doing here?"

Then a thought began to form itself at the back of Sophie's head. A thought that she was even afraid to think.

"If they are here…"

"With all this commotion at 3 a.m. I can think of only one reason fro them to be here!" Krista almost spoke what Sophie was thinking about. The two girls looked at each other, as there was a moment's silence. They both thought of one and the same thing.

'Mr.Lee and his Mu-team.'

A lot of things were written in the newspapers about those six. There were even some photos.

A shout and the sound of shooting brought the two girls out of thoughts, and they continued running.

The main hall of the university wasn't much of a mess. So the girls ran upstairs to check the upper levels where the sounds were coming from. As they were reaching the third level, Sophie suddenly stopped.

"Wait!" she panted. Krista looked around, also panting from such a long run, "Remember, a few weeks ago something happened on the underground level?"

"You mean the time when all classes involving the use of labs were cancelled?" Krista frowned.

"Yes! Nobody ever told us what happened, but the rumors were that some rare reptilian cultures were stolen," Sophie continued.

"And?.." Krista felt that she was definitely missing something.

"Didn't they say it was Lee who stole the samples?" Sophie finally spat.

There was a moment silence. Then Krista slapped herself hard on the forehead.

"Of course!" she yelled, "Let's go check downstairs!"

The two turned around and stormed to the underground level. As they ran, Krista continued wondering on what could possibly be going on.

"But what could Lee be possibly after now?" she wondered out loud.

"I have no idea," Sophie frowned, "But I'm sure it's something important. And something we don't know about. After all a lot of secrets reside in this place. Secrets we, students, are not supposed to know."

And further they ran.

Soon they reached the underground floor and, escaping the stairs, they ran down the long dark corridors. There was little light since most of the lamps were broken. Hissing noises came from broken security cameras. Apparently someone hadn't wanted to be noticed. There were cracks in the walls, and pieces of cement on the floor, dust blurred vision.

The two girls slowed down and carefully treaded further.

"I don't like the look of this," Krista spoke, her voice a bit shaky.

"Shh!" Sophie pressed her finger to her lips, "I think I hear something."

Indeed, someone was speaking, and the voices were coming from the lab on the other side of the corridor. The girls came closer and peeked inside.

Krista barely managed to restrain a scream. There they were, all eleven of them: Axel Manning's team, the so-called Mu-team and Janus Lee himself. There were some other people there, like several professors and other University workers whom Krista and Sophie both knew or at least heard of. Apparently a big fight was taking place, as the lab was a total mess and the "Alpha Teens" were each opposing a member of the Mu-team.

"…As I expected. You couldn't have missed out our little party, could you, Axel?" came a silky voice.

Sophie froze, her knees nearly giving in.

'That voice…' And there he stood himself, Mr. Janus Lee. He was different from what she remembered him: he had a different hair style, his glasses were now red instead of green, so now she could clearly see that he had mismatched eyes.

'How strange…'

She had also never pictured him in a jumpsuit he was wearing at the moment. Which by the way revealed the man's well-built and strong figure…

After having almost giggled, Sophie mentally slapped herself. How the hell could she be thinking something like that at a time like this?! And yet…

'NO! Shut the hell up!' she ordered to her inner voice. Then she felt Krista shacking a bit beside her. Sophie turned to look at her friend, who was looking straight at Sophie and laughing silently.

"What?" mouthed Sophie. Krista gestured to Lee, then to Sophie, then to Lee again. Sophie frowned in confusion, at which Krista smirked and rolled her eyes. Then she patted her cheeks lightly, the gesture which her friend recognized at once.

'Crap,' thought Sophie, 'I'm busted. She saw me blushing.'

But she looked at Krista as if her friend had grown a second head and rolled eyes herself, at which Krista inclined her head to her side and raised an eyebrow, silently inquiring: "Whom are you trying to fool, girl?"

Meanwhile the girls were pulled out of their small gesture conversation when the fight between the Mu-team and Alpha teens started. Krista pulled Sophie's sleeve, motioning for them to leave. She turned around and soundlessly made her way back to stairs. Although quite unwillingly, Sophie turned around and followed.

Once the girls were upstairs on the ground floor again, an idea occurred to Krista.

"Hey, how do you think they got here?" she asked her friend, pausing near the stairs leading to the upper levels of the University building.

Sophie paused as well. "No idea. And I'm not going to find out," she added resuming her walk.

"Really?" Krista asked in a mock tone. "And why not?"

Sophie stopped again, turned around and looked at her friend, doubt written all over her face. She gave a quick glance at the staircase, then crossed her arms on her chest and looked at Krista.

"So what do you suggest?"

Instead of an answer, Krista quickly started climbing the staircase. Sophie let out a frustrated sigh and followed.

'Somehow, I get the feeling I'm going to regret this.'

A/N: So… That's chapter two! Hope you enjoyed!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own A.T.O.M. and never will. Unfortunately. But I do own the idea of this fic and the new characters I introduced.

A/N: As far as I get it from the reviews, people actually like this stuff! And I'm really glad of it! And that's why I present you chapter three, enjoy!

This story is set in season 2, somewhere after episode 6 or 7. A teenage student from Landmark City University gets captured by Lee and the Mu-team… Accidentally! Let the madness begin!

Hostage.

Chapter Three.

"Exactly where are we going?" asked Sophie as she and Krista reached the last level, but Krista still continued to walk.

"To the top," the girl answered simply.

"We ARE on the top," Sophie gestured around.

"Nope, not yet," Krista said in a sing-a-song voice. Sophie let another frustrated sigh escape her lungs. She followed her friend, until Krista stopped in front of the fire exit door leading to the roof. Surprisingly, the door was wide open.

"That's strange," commented Sophie, "Why is this open? Isn't it supposed to be- Wait! Krista! Where are you going-?"

But her questions fell on deaf ears, as Krista was already climbing the staircase leading to the roof. After a little hesitation, Sophie followed, mumbling curses at her over curious friend.

Soon, the two girls were already on the roof top.

"Wow, it's so beautiful here!" exclaimed Sophie, breathing in the nighttime air, wind blowing her hair to the side.

"Well, I for one know where to find nice places to hang out!" Krista joked.

"Haha, very funny," Sophie said sarcastically, "Usually you do find places with nice atmosphere, guys, drinks…"

"…Helicopters…" Krista continued Sophie's idea.

"Yeah, helicopters and… WHAT?!"

Sophie wheeled around and stared in the direction Krista was looking. And there it was indeed: a large helicopter, apparently equipped with cutting age technologies. The door was opened.

"Uhm, Krista… Can I ask you something?.."

Too late. The named girl has already started her way towards the helicopter.

"Krista…" Sophie almost moaned, her tone reprimanding, shoulders slumped.

'We're so going to get into trouble. Why does she have to be so damn curious?'

Meanwhile Krista has already climbed inside the helicopter.

"Hey! Check this out!" she cried in excitement. Reluctantly, Sophie stepped inside the helicopter. Way cool, indeed. Everything was done in a high-tech manner. There were two leather seats in front of the dash board, each equipped with seat belts and with a steering levers in front.

Krista slumped down in one of the seats and sank into it, a content smile plastered on her face. Sophie's eyebrow twitched at that.

"Well? Wanna ride?" Krista finally said, looking up at Sophie. At this Sophie nearly fell.

"Ok. This. Is. IT!" she hissed, frustration and anger starting to course within her, "We're getting out of here! NOW!"

Krista did not move an inch, but burst out laughing.

"You're SO funny when you get mad, has anyone ever told you that?" Krista was laughing so hard that she was clutching her stomach by now. Sophie, on the other hand, was not having such a merry time at all. She knew that Lee and his team could return at any second now, and she doubted that they would be pleased to find the two students in their helicopter. Especially when one was acting like a total idiot.

"That's it. We're out."

With that said, Sophie grabbed Krista's hand and almost literally dragged her out of the armchair despite a loud 'Hey!' and countless other protests.

At that very moment a loud 'BANG' came from outside, as the door leading to the roof was almost knocked off its bights. Lee was first to appear, next came his team and seconds later the Alpha teens. The Mu-team stopped and turned around to face off against the Alpha teens again. Sophie and Krista ducked behind the helicopter door, with Sophie frantically looking for a way out. However, there was no way they could escape now without being noticed.

"Shit," muttered Sophie and, turning to Krista, she added: "Happy now?"

Krista shrugged and gave her an apologetic smile. Sophie shook her head and rolled her eyes.

'Awesome. We're stuck in here,' Sophie thought, panic beginning to stir inside her. At that moment, she was almost ready to tear her best friend apart. 'How come I couldn't stop her before? I knew we would end up in trouble!'

Meanwhile a little show was taking place on the roof. The Alpha teens stood in a row in front of the Mu-team and Lee, while they were trying to escape for the helicopter.

"You're not going anywhere, Lee," Axel Manning said in a dangerous tone.

"I don't think so," Tilian hissed. Then he let out some of his poisonous spit, none of which hit the other team, but it made them lose their concentration. As they were jumping aside to avoid venom, Lee and the Mu-team were already heading for the helicopter.

However, Axel Manning was a renowned fighter. A tech blaster was withdrawn within less than a second. A series of blasts was aimed at the Mu-team, however, the mutants managed to avoid getting hit. A new series followed, hitting the helicopter and the door, behind which the two girls were hidden. Thankfully for them, the helicopter was bullet proof, so the blasts didn't get them.

"RUN!" Krista's outburst came too unexpectedly. The girl grabbed her friend's wrist, leaped up and was about to jump off the helicopter, when another series of blasts came, clearly aiming for the helicopter. On the instinct, Sophie pushed Krista, who was standing in the door frame in front of her, down and out of the helicopter. Krista fell on the ground, rolling over a few times, while several of the blasts hit Sophie and sent her flying to the opposite side of the helicopter.

'Shit!' that was the last thing Sophie thought, before she fell unconscious.

Lee and the Mu-team made it safely to the helicopter, avoiding the blasts. They hardly had any time to notice their new 'passenger', as Lee and Tilian got into the armchairs and started the helicopter while the other Mu-team members were busy shutting the door and avoiding the blasts.

The helicopter took off.

When they were far and safe enough, Lee growled loudly.

"Curse it! We DIDN'T get the disk!" he cried out angrily.

"Don't worry, we'll try again," Tilian reassured him, "What's so important about that disk, anyway?" he tried to change the subject, because he knew where the talk was going: Mr.Lee was about to blame the Mu-team for failure.

"That disk contains important data regarding government research," at first Lee's voice was calm, but then it began to get louder and angrier as he continued: "The data I need to continue my cloning operations! And you have failed to get!"

So, it came after all.

The pregnant silence was soon broken, as Mr.Lee continued, his tone now more even:

"Now they will put extra guard around the computer, and Manning's team will also be on the watch out."

Silence fell again.

"Hey, and who's that?" Stingfly suddenly asked.

"Huh?" Lee left his seat, entrusting the helicopter's control to Tilian and turned to look at what was going on.

The four members of the 'freak squad' were standing over a body of an unconscious young woman with long golden-brown curly hair, pulled into a pony tail. Something was definitely wrong with her left shoulder as it was slightly bent under an unusual angle, and there was a slight burn on her jacket at this place.

Lee's eyebrows soared high. Then he frowned.

"How did she get here?" Wrecka asked.

"Maybe we should just throw her off board?" Razer suggested.

"Maybe you should just shut up?" Firekat answered.

Mr.Lee sighed in irritation, squeezing his eyes shut and bringing his left hand to rub his temple.

'Oh, perfect!' he thought in annoyance, then turned around to the others and said:

"We're NOT going to throw her off board. Now get to your places, we'll soon be landing."

The Mu-team went to the far off corner of the helicopter to discuss something, while Lee adjusted the unconscious girl into a sitting position and checked her shoulder.

'Minor injuries,' he concluded mentally, 'But her head will ache a lot when she wakes up.'

Then Lee searched through the girl's pockets and found a small plastic card in her jacket: a digital pass key from Landmark City University. The girl's photo was present on the card with her name engraved just beneath the magnetic strip.

'Sophie Olin.'

"We'll deal with you later, Sophie," with that decided, Lee returned to his place behind the steering.

The night was wearing off, making way for the new day. No one suspected that what had happened that night would soon turn certain people's worlds upside down.

A/N: As usual, comments are welcomed and desired for! If you don't like it, I don't mind flames, but some sensual criticism is more appreciated. See you soon!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own A.T.O.M. and never will. Unfortunately. But I do own the idea of this fic and the new characters I introduced.

A/N: Sorry for the long delay, guys, I just have huge piles of homework to do. Enjoy!

This story is set in season 2, somewhere after episode 6 or 7. A teenage student from Landmark City University gets captured by Lee and the Mu-team… Accidentally! Let the madness begin!

Hostage.

Chapter Four.

Thick darkness turned into green and yellow blur, as Sophie's heavy eyelids slowly opened. She quickly shut them tightly and then opened again.

Ah, that's better.

Her vision focused. The first thing she saw were cells. Yes, six-sided bright green cells. It took Sophie a few more seconds to realize that she was lying on something quite soft. The girl blinked a few more times, before slowly rising up.

'Damn it, my head!' she thought with irritation, rubbing the back of her head as it ached when she rose. The girl looked around.

She was lying on a sofa in a vast sphere-like hall. The walls were all made of the cells of green and yellow and it seemed that light itself was coming from these cells, since the room was full of light, but there were no evident sources of it present. There were no windows or lamps, just a door on the very far side of the room.

'Where am I? And how did I get here?' Sophie thought. She tried to sit up a little straighter, but a sudden pain in her left shoulder stopped her. Sophie looked at her shoulder and slowly memories began to flood back to her head.

She remembered how she woke up at night from the strange sounds, how she and Krista went to the University's main building to investigate, how they found Lee, Mu-team and Alpha Teens in the University's lab, how Krista then led them to the roof, where they saw a helicopter, how Lee and everyone then came to the roof… She remembered a big fight and how she and Krista tried to escape, but someone was shooting at them, Krista was in the way and Sophie pushed her so she wouldn't get hit, then… Then there was a sharp pain in shoulder and for a moment she felt herself flying backwards, and then there was nothing…

'I wonder what happened to Krista…' Sophie thought with concern.

"Aah, woken up, I see?" said a voice. Sophie snapped her head in the direction of the voice.

Janus Lee was standing in the doorway of the hall. With messy hair, strange, a little devilish, smile gracing his lips, he was once again in the jumpsuit Sophie had seen him in at the University, his red glasses on. Sophie never knew why, but she somehow was not surprised to see him.

A lot of questions were running through Sophie's head as she saw the man in front of her. Like where was she? How did she get here? And how long had she been out? She decided to start with latter.

"How long have I been here?" she asked, her voice calm, her tone even.

Lee's eyes widened a fraction. He was surprised at the girl's calm and cool attitude. It was like she didn't know who he was, like she had never been told that he was the most dangerous man in the city now.

"We brought you here several hours ago," he answered in the same silky tone, "So who are you, may I require?"

Sophie looked up at Lee, although the reason for the question was pretty much obvious, she somehow didn't see it coming. When she processed what Lee had just asked her, a striking thought occurred to her.

'He does not remember me.'

For some unknown reason, Sophie felt a wave of joy at that idea. She felt that the fact gave her at least some advantage over the man in front of her: he didn't know that she had met with him before, talked to him.

"Sophie Olin," she finally answered.

"You work at Landmark City University, Mrs.Olin?" Lee asked walking further into the hall.

'Ms.Olin? Working?!' the words rang in Sophie's head. 'Wait a minute… He doesn't know I'm only seventeen! Way to go! Another one for me!'

"Yes… I suppose you could say that," Sophie looked at her knees, then turned her eyes back to her captor. There was a shot pause, then Sophie stood up slowly, afraid that something else except for her shoulder would start aching. She took out her cell phone, for she somehow expected it to be useless. She was right.

"The signal's dead," she observed quietly, putting the phone on a small table near the couch, "We must be very far from Landmark. Or something else is shutting done the signal."

Lee narrowed hi eyes again. The girl was really strange: anyone else in such a situation would be panicking to the unknown extent by now.

"Both," he answered, "We are in the mountain area not far from Landmark."

Sophie was surprised and this time she didn't bother to disguise it. For several moments she looked at Lee, and then slumped back onto the couch in defeat.

"Well… Look's like that's it. Either I'm dead, or I'll spend the rest of my life here," there was a tone of bitter laughter in her voice. The words surprised Lee.

"Now why would you say that?" he asked her.

She looked up at him and laughed, the beautiful sounds filling the hall.

"The whole city is looking for your hideout, Mr.Lee, and you just told of its whereabouts to a girl you've met for the first time in your life!" Sophie said, smiling widely.

'Although "the first time" part is not quite true,' Sophie added mentally.

"It's pretty obvious, that either you're going to keep me here as a prisoner or hostage or you're about to kill me," Sophie's tone remained as light as ever and she kept smiling. Of course, deep in her soul she was terribly afraid, since she realized the danger she was in, but she dearly hoped that there was at least something left in the man in front of her from the Janus Lee she had been talking to less than six months ago. So, she decided to do everything possible to impress the man.

And she was quite successful so far, as Lee was now unable to suppress or even hide his surprise.

"So you know me?" he confirmed. Sophie merely nodded, and Lee continued sounding, to his own irritation, even more surprised, "And still you're not aghast at the perspective of what might happen to you?"

Sophie chuckled.

"And what's the point of panicking? It's not going to help me," she answered, still smiling.

'She's so calm… Too calm,' Lee thought.

Silence fell for several moments.

"So…" Sophie finally spoke after several moments, looking up at Lee, "What IS going to happen to me?"

Mr.Lee looked at her for several moments, his eyebrows raised, as if the question took him off guard and he needed time to process it. Meanwhile Sophie smirked.

"Well, I cannot deny the fact that I'm not in the little bit interested in what's going to happen to me," she added sarcastically.

"Hm…" Lee eyed the girl carefully. Of course, he could get rid of her at once and not bother himself with that problem any further, but the girl seemed somewhat interesting to him. She was young, yes, it was apparent from her looks, but he couldn't tell how old she was, since her speech, manners and even facial expressions were so mature.

'She must be around 22 or 23…'

Lee pondered on the question further. On one hand, he could get rid of her and not oblige himself with further problems. But on the other, he could leave her around for a time being, at least just to figure out what formed this stoic appearance of hers.

'Besides, she said she works in Landmark City University. She can be of some use to me if I want to get that disk,' Lee smiled.

Sophie noticed her captor's smile and his pleased expression.

'Well… Here goes nothing,' she thought. Although she never showed it, or rather did her best not to show it, she felt chill running through her, her legs suddenly becoming numb.

"Tell me, Sophie," Lee finally broke the silence, addressing the girl in front of him, "You said you worked in Landmark University?"

"Y-Yes," Sophie did her best to hide the lies. 'I hope he's not going to check,' despite the fact that Sophie was in a life-or-death situation, random jokes kept popping up in her head.

"Do you think you could provide us with some valuable information about it?" Lee continued his inquiry.

Sophie narrowed her eyes.

'So that's what he wants. Whatever he came for, he must've failed to get. And now he supposes that I will be able to help him as a University's "employee". Well, looks like I don't have a choice but to cooperate. Besides, who knows, maybe I'll be successful enough and he'll like me.'

Sophie, despite her extra caution, was never oblivious to what was happening in the University. She has been to its furthest and darkest corners, and she knew pretty much about it. She was also her teachers' favorite, and hence had more access to the University's facilities than any other regular student. At one point, the level of her awareness surpassed that of some of the University's actual employees. Sophie always considered that to be her advantage, but now it seemed to be something much more important. Now that gave her a chance to save her life.

Sophie was quiet for a few moments, as those thoughts formed themselves in her mind. Then she finally answered:

"Depends on how much you already know," she looked at Lee, her expression now completely serious.

It was Lee's turn to narrow his eyes as he looked carefully at the girl, as though contemplating on something.

"Follow me," he said curtly, turning around and heading for the door.

Sophie quickly grabbed her cell phone, put it in her pocket and hurried after Lee. The door slid open in front of them, and the two stepped on inside a long glass corridor with a moving floor. Sophie looked out curiously. They were indeed in mountains and, apparently, in some kind of a cleft. The construction of the building they were in was pretty much peculiar: Large spheres were joint together by long transparent corridors like the one they were in.

'I wonder how he managed to build all of it and why this place hadn't been discovered yet,' Sophie thought. Since she didn't have that much to lose in her current situation, she dared to speak.

"Mr.Lee, can I ask you something?" Lee half turned his head and gave her a leveling look, which Sophie took as a sign to continue.

"How did you manage to arrange this place? I mean it seems that something like this would be quite difficult to construct and would require a large number of people to work on. If so, then why had no one checked on this place so far?"

Lee turned around and looked at the girl, contemplating on whether to answer or not.

"This place is made of hardlight. So basically it was not so hard to create on my own."

Lee decided that since he was not going to let Sophie go any time soon, he might as well tell her.

'And she seems to be quite intelligent,' he continued evaluating his hostage.

"Oh, I see," Sophie was apparently impressed, "So, does that mean that you can create whole buildings- even cities- made of hardlight?"

"Yes…" Lee answered absent mindedly, "Yes, that's true, but I will need more information for further research."

"But that's not the information you were looking for back in the University, is it?" Sophie asked more to herself, than to Lee, gazing outside.

"No, it isn't," Lee answered. He looked at the girl again and watched her. Her expression went from her previous sarcastically-sardonic to sad and nostalgic. It was as if she was recalling something.

Soon Mr.Lee and Sophie reached the next sphere. A door slid open and they entered. Sophie guessed that to be the main part of the whole complex, as there were many screens and computers there. A large table was littered with different papers, maps and drawings. One of those papers was the plan of Landmark City University.

Lee showed the plan to Sophie. Sophie looked at it carefully. At first she was surprised as she briefly studied the plan. Then a surge of happiness and self-contentment overwhelmed her.

"Where did you get those?' Sophie asked surprised, still studying the maps of the University.

"My resources are none of your concern," Lee snapped.

Sophie looked at him, her head still inclined over the maps.

"That's not what I'm asking," she said, "This plan is way too outdated."

The statement had an amazing effect on Lee: his face fell and he looked at the girl as if she had grown a second head.

"WHAT?!!"

Sophie winced at Lee's yell.

"The map is outdated. They made several reconstructions in the last few months," Sophie looked at the plan once again, tapping her chin, "I can't help you get another plan, since it is regarded as qualified information and so the access to it is restricted, but I could tell you a few things that I know my self."

And Sophie started to remember her 'trips' around the University. Sometimes she went around the place on teachers' orders, but usually it was Krista who got her into those 'trips', so Sophie knew the University pretty well.

'Looks like I'll be needed here for some time after all,' Sophie mentally sighed with relief, and went on explaining.

A/N: So, that's it for now! Watch out for next chapter: Sophie decides to torture her captors a little, especially Mr.Lee… He's human after all, and not only that – he is a man. grins evilly So, see you and don't forget to review!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own A.T.O.M. and never will. Unfortunately. But I do own the idea of this fic and the new characters I introduced.

A/N: Sorry for the long delay, guys, I just have huge piles of homework to do. Enjoy!

This story is set in season 2, somewhere after episode 6 or 7. A teenage student from Landmark City University gets captured by Lee and the Mu-team… Accidentally! Let the madness begin!

Hostage.

Chapter Five.

The iron door slid closed behind Sophie, as she headed towards her bed and literally fell on it, face down.

It was already about a week since she had been taken hostage by the infamous Mr.Lee. Yes, Sophie had already come to calling the room she resided in hers, as she wasn't treated that bad around this place. Of course, the Mu-team were not the friendliest people in the world, but they were tolerable. The good part was that Mr.Lee strictly prohibited them to hurt Sophie in the slightest bit, since she was an important part of his plan to retrieve some disk from the University. Sophie had not managed to find out what the disk was, but she wasn't really upset about it. Instead, every time anyone from the Mu-team tried to say something nasty to her, she usually made fun of the offender, bluntly using the fact that they were not allowed to hurt her.

Mr.Lee himself stayed the same mean and cold persona with frequent outbursts of rage. Sophie watched twice as he scolded the Mu-team for failing the two missions he had given them that week. The clones got beaten by their originals, the Alpha Teens. Sophie was present during those scenes of Lee's fury, but what she felt was quite contradictory: on one hand, she had been afraid that Lee would turn around and literally kill her just because of his blind rage, but on the other hand, she was doing her best not to burst out laughing – the man was really hilarious.

There was, however, one big advantage Sophie possessed at that moment: she had somehow made a deal with Lee that for the upcoming two months, she would stay at his place, but once in a while she would be allowed to go to Landmark accompanied by one of the members of the Mu-team. She was also permitted to choose the specific member and, what Sophie had absolutely not expected, Lee said that she would be provided with all the cash she needs. But Sophie would not be allowed to go somewhere near the University or contact anyone from there.

Sophie was quite content with her position right now.

'It could've been worse. Much worse.'

She could've been thrown in a dark cell and given a bowl of something distantly resembling food once in a while. Conditions she was now in were… Well… Maybe even luxurious.

'A bird in a golden cage…'

Nah, Sophie was not the one to complain, especially not since she was so lucky.

She was actually starting to like the place. A few days ago she stumbled on a greenhouse. It seemed to be endless and it was the only place that was not yellowish-green all around. Sophie started liking spending time in that greenhouse, although she was never interested in flora and fauna before. One day she met Lee there. He seemed to be annoyed ('As much as usual,' Sophie thought mentally rolling her eyes), so Sophie hurried away. But before she left, Lee called after her and asked her what she was doing. She answered him truthfully: She had just accidentally found this place. She complemented him on the beauty of some flowers and then left in a hurry, but she saw him stare at her as she exited the greenhouse.

Although Sophie did her best to keep her cool and indifferent façade, she had been dead frightened when she understood that she was stuck as a hostage. Later on she relaxed a bit, but she had to admit that she did feel some fear towards Mr.Lee, especially since he was almost always in a bad mood. So she tried not to communicate with Lee too often, unless he required her presence, of course. In those cases he would usually send someone form his Mu-team to tell her to come to his lab.

A sliding noise came from the door as it opened. Sophie groaned into her pillow and tore her head away from it.

"What is it?" she said in annoyance and glanced towards the door. To her surprise, Razer was standing in the doorway.

"Razer?" Sophie asked, "What are you doing here? I thought you and the others went to retrieve the disk from the University?"

"We did," Razer answered, "And we got it."

"Really?!" Sophie jumped off the bed, happy to hear the good news, "But that's great!"

"Yeah," Razer answered emotionlessly, "Mr.Lee asked to tell you that he wants to see you right away."

"Thanks," and with that Sohie left 'her' room, quickly heading towards Lee's lab.

Excitement was bubbling inside her. Was the man happy? Well, he should have been. After all, he got what he wanted, right?

Finally, Sophie reached the door to the 'main meeting room', as she called it, and stopped in front of it. She took a deep breath, propped her jacket and made a calm, a little pleasant face. Then she pushed the button on the controller, and the door slid open.

It was hard to tell what was going on from the atmosphere in the hall. Mr.Lee was standing in the centre with his back on the Mu-Team, of which only Razer wasn't present. The Mu-Team members wore their indifferent faces, just like they did most of the time. When Sophie entered, silence fell. After a few seconds, the blond man was the first to break it.

"You've done a good job. Finally! Dismissed," he added curtly, but he most definitely sounded pleased.

When the Mu-Team left, Lee finally turned to face Sophie. To her surprise, he was grinning, but not in the way that made her feel like she was in trouble. On the contrary, Lee WAS happy.

"So…" Sophie was the first to speak, "May I assume that the mission was a success?"

"Yes, it was indeed…" Lee began.

"My congratulations, then!" Sophie smiled sincerely.

"Thanks to the invaluable information you have given us, we managed to retrieve the disk, and now I have all the information I need!" Lee announced, "Looks like you are proving to be most useful to keep around!"

"Well, I'm glad to hear that!" Sophie kept smiling, although a part of her wanted to claw his mismatched eyes out.

'Keep me around?! What am I, a pet?!!'

'No. You're a hostage, and could be dead by now,' Sophie reminded herself once again, sighing mentally. Then she said:

"So… Mr.Lee, I can understand perfectly well that I'm a hostage and is very lucky to still be alive, but still, since I agreed to cooperate willingly…" Sophie did not get the chance to finish.

"Yes, yes, I remember, the deal," Lee said as-a-matter-of-fact-ly. He looked at her and continued: "I will allow you to go to the city, but under two conditions: you must not get close to the University neighborhood or contact anyone you know, AND someone from my Mu-Team will accompany you."

'"Accompany"? What a nice way of saying "prevent you from running away",' Sophie thought sarcastically.

"Understood," she nodded, "But I'd like Tilian to accompany me."

Lee was very surprised to hear that. He knew that Tilian was… Well… The smartest of the Mu-Team, and he knew that Sophie was aware of that. Tilian would be the hardest to run away from. And yet, knowing all that, she chose him.

"All right…" he said slowly, still searching Sophie's face for any sign of her wanting to change her mind, but as no such signs came, Lee turned around and looked at the screens in front of him. Then he spoke again: "You have a credit card, I believe?"

"Yes," Sophie answered, not really getting the point of him asking something like that.

"Well, I'm afraid I can't afford letting you use it…" Lee began, but was interrupted by Sophie.

"…Because if they already know I'm missing, they are keeping an eye on my transactions, and as soon as I use my credit card, they'll know where I am," the girl continued.

"Very good!" Lee smirked. "Now, I'm giving you this credit card, buy whatever you need. The PIN is 9562."

He handed Sophie a credit card. Sophie was very surprised.

"Whatever I need?" she repeated, "Up till how much can that 'whatever I need' cost?"

"Well, I hope $25,000 would be enough for now," Lee answered distractedly.

Sophie nearly choked.

'WHAT?!'

Ok, so maybe she was used to a more or less luxurious life, since her farther was a very successful businessman and she earned herself good grades in University, but she never got more that $500 a month. But fifty times more for just one day of shopping?

'I didn't know that being a hostage pays you off that well,' Sophie joked mentally.

"Thank you!" she said brightly and left to get her jacket… Oh, and Tilian.

A few hours later Sophie Olin entered Landmark City shopping gallery accompanied by a tall figure in a dark coat, hat, gloves and a scarf tied almost all around his face. Sophie was doing her best to ignore the weird glances people were throwing their way.

Sophie had been in this gallery before: it was like a centre with all the expensive Italian clothes. But she never bought more than two items on one occasion, on usually such an occasion occurred once every two months. Now, on the other hand, she had a chance of buying almost a whole wardrobe.

'It would be absolutely perfect if only people stopped looking around that way," Sophie thought, staring bluntly at the woman who stole a surprised glance her way. The staring contest made the woman look away. 'Why did Mr.Lee have to make them so… so… Oh, I don't know… Noticeable!'

Finally they came towards the boutique Sophie wanted to start with.

"Ok," she said, turning around to look at Tilian. "Listen up!"

She pointed her right index finger into his chest, and looked at him with stern expression on her face.

"You don't mess with my nerves, you don't get us thrown out of this shop and you DON'T freak out other customers! Got it? Fine, let's go," she turned around and headed into the shop without waiting for an answer.

"You'd better be careful with what you are saying, girl," Tilian hissed, following her.

"Mr.Lee didn't give me any specific instructions on how to talk to you," Sophie snapped, "On the contrary, I bet he told you NOT to mistreat me."

As only a growl followed, Sophie assumed she was right. The girl smirked. She headed for the stand with different clothes and started picking out different items.

About fifteen minutes later, Sophie was finishing trying on the new clothes. She picked herself several shirts, a sweater, classic black jeans, a belt and matching bag and shoes.

"You know, I'm somehow surprised that Mr.Lee actually kept his word," Sophie mused changing back into her own clothes, "I mean after all he had all the chances of not keeping his word… Well, really, why would he?"

"You're right," answered Tilian, who was standing right outside her changing room like a bodyguard, "But he needs to buy your trust."

A loud 'cling' sound was heard, as the belt slipped out of the girl's hands and fell to the floor.

"What?!"

Sophie marched out of the changing cabin and stared at Tiian.

"What did you just say?" she asked in a deadly quiet tone. Tilian, who realized, too late unfortunately, that he had said something he was not supposed to have said, closed his eyes and lowered his face. Still Sophie continued: "Are you telling me that he let me out and gave all this money to… buy me?!"

"He wants your loyalty and he is trying to earn it by lavishing you with all the money," Tilian finally spoke, realizing that it didn't matter any longer how much more he said, since Sophie had already figured out everything.

Sophie's fists balled.

'That bastard!' her mind screamed. She wanted to punch the wall. 'He thinks he can buy me… Damn it! He wants to BUY me!!!'

Sophie looked at the pile of expensive clothes in the corner of her changing room, enraged. Then, suddenly, a plan started forming itself in Sophie's head. A smirk crept to her face, as she looked at her 'bodyguard'.

"Tilian, have you ever heard a saying 'Be careful what you wish for'?" she asked. Tilian looked at her, confused. He realized that his charge had something on her mind, but he had no idea what it could be.

Meanwhile Sophie took all of the clothes she had tried on previously and gave them back to the lady that worked in the shop and was helping her.

"Thank you," Sophie smiled at the lady, "But I suddenly thought that I need something… a little different in style."

And with that said, Sophie and the shop assistant started their trip around the shop once more. Tilian watched them curiously, wanting to know what Sophie was up to.

An hour later, Sophie and Tilian left the shop, both carrying several packages.

"Ok, next stop is…" Sophie looked around thoughtfully, then noticed what she was looking for, "Perfume and cosmetics. Try to survive that one as well, Tilian. 'Cause I have plans. Big plans."

Sophie smirked and headed for the said shop.

A/N: Sorry, guys, the 'bomb' I promised is not in this chapter, maybe it'll be the next one. But, anyway, please review, I need to know what you think!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own A.T.O.M. and never will. Unfortunately. But I do own the idea of this fic and the new characters I introduced.

A/N: Finally! Sorry, guys, I didn't update because my parents took me to one dumb trip, and I had no laptop with me. But now I'm back!

Hostage.

Chapter Six.

It was way past noon when Sophie and Tilian returned to the base. Sophie had visited the beauty salon, where she did her nails and hair, then they had dropped in a book store, where she got herself some books, CDs and DVDs. After that they had a snack ("Nice break from your bio diet, huh?" Sophie asked, watching Tillian consume his third burger.).

Tilian could see that the girl was up to something, but he couldn't figure out what it would be. Everything started when he had accidentally slipped out Mr.Lee's plans in regard to Sophie, Tilian knew this, but it didn't help him a tiny bit. At one point, he even tried to bluntly ask Sophie, but she dismissed his questions with a chuckle and a "You'll see...". By the time the two arrived back to the lab, Tilian had already given up trying to find out Sophie's plans. The only thought that still bothered him, however, was the fear that Mr.Lee would find out about his 'little' slip-up and... Well... Kill him or something.

Meanwhile Sophie was heading back to her room with all of her bags, when she almost bumped into Mr.Lee himself.

"Well, back from the town, I see?" he said in a sly voice, smirking.

'Oh, how I want to punch that smirk off his handsome face right now!' Sophie's insides were starting to boil. But she had already been used to concealing her emotions. And she was getting a lot of practice since she became a hostage. So, the girl just smiled brightly.

"Yes! Thank you SO much!" Sophie answered happily, "I had a great time and I got all I needed!"

'To make you sorry you ever brought me here,' she added mentally.

"Good, good!" Lee commented, "Dinner at six. Oh, and you can leave the credit card to yourself for a while..."

Lee left, and Sophie headed to her room.

'Yeah, don't worry, it'll be safe with me,' Sophie smirked inwardly, 'But it may cause YOU a few... Inconveniences.'

Entering her room, Sophie dropped the bags near her bead and looked at her watch.

'5:25. Well, I have just enough time,' Sophie headed for the bathroom.

She took a shower, checked her hair and picked one of her 'new' outfits: semi-transparent black silk stalkings, black jeans mini-skirt and a red short-sleeved t-shirt, which exposed her chest and shoulders pretty much. This was all accompanied by black high-heel pumps, a belt and a few jeweleries she had primary: bracelets, rings, watches, and a heart-shaped pendent.

Her hair was fixed in a pony tail high above her neck, and her make matched the outfit perfectly: black eyeliner and mascara and some lip gloss.

'5:55.'

Sophie was standing in front of a large mirror looking over herself.

'Perfect.'

She then made a deep breath to calm her nerves and headed for the door.

'This is SO better work,' she thought as the iron door slid closed behind her.

Marching towards the dinner room, Sophie felt her heart pounding in her ears. She thought she would die from being so nervous.

'Ok, calm yourself down, girl; there's no going back now,' she thought as she reached the door of the 'dining room'. The door slid open. To Sophie's utter relief, only the Mu-Team was present. Sophie breathed out inwardly, and forced herself to smirk a little as she entered…

The looks on the Mu-Team members' faces were priceless. At that moment, Sophie regretted not having a camera somewhere nearby. As she walked further into the room, she noticed Tilian stood there with a dumbfounded expression on his face too, although Sophie was pretty much sure nothing in the world could surprise him. The girl's smirk grew wider, as she came up to him, almost face to face.

"Tilian, pick your jaw off the floor, and stop. Drooling," Sophie said in a quiet voice, carefully making pauses and still smirking. Without waiting for Tilian's reaction, she turned around and headed towards the table.

"Hey, nice new outfit," Firekat was the first to get her speech back in control.

"Yeah, you look hot, girl," Stingfly said.

Although Sophie nearly shuddered at that comment, she still managed to answer a "Thank you".

After a minute pause, the door slid open.

"Stingfly, did you…" Lee was definitely mad, but he stopped mid-sentence, as Sophie turned around, a full smile now gracing her lips, her arms crossed on her chest, just below her breasts (which she really didn't have to be ashamed of, by the way).

Janus Lee, the ingenious scientist, a successful business man with a whole city of lonely women dreaming to become his Chosen one's, the most dangerous man in this city right now… Froze. He froze. He was just standing there staring at Sophie, as a pregnant pause hang in the air.

'That's the way to go!' Sophie's inner guts were flipping with joy at her captor's reaction. The girl cleared her throat delicately.

"You wanted to tell something to Stingfly, Mr.Lee?" she asked, still smiling.

Lee shifted his eyes to meet hers, and simply stared at her again, as if processing what he had just been told. Sophie laughed a little, casting her gaze down, and then looking back up at Mr.Lee.

"Stingfly, Mr.Lee," she said, gesturing towards Stingfly with her head, "You wanted to tell him something, I believe."

Lee slowly looked away from Sophie to Stingfly.

"Oh, uhm… N-never mind…" he cleared his throat and, trying his best to keep himself from staring at Sophie, proceeded towards the table. Everyone followed.

Sophie, in the meantime, was doing her best not to burst out laughing. She glanced at Tilian, who had never ever seen his precious boss like that before, and saw that he too was having a hard time trying not to laugh his guts out.

Everyone sat down, with Sophie on Lee's left, and Tilian on his right.

The dinner went on without much talking as usual, except for a few questions the Mu-Team asked Sophie about herself and her life. She answered gladly, and joked on some occasions.

'Ok, this is boring,' Sophie thought, glancing at Lee sideways. Then she noticed his napkin about to fall from the table, and an idea came to her.

She carefully moved her elbow, as if unintentionally. The napkin fell.

'Bingo!'

Sophie bent down to pick up it up, as Lee did exactly the same thing. At one moment their hands touched. Lee looked up at Sophie, who looked up at him and only smiled. He stared at her for a moment, their hands still touching and her deeply necked shirt exposing… well… everything Sophie had originally wanted to expose.

A few moments passed, and Sophie straightened back up holding the napkin.

"Here," she handed the napkin over to Mr.Lee, still smiling, and returned to her glass of wine. Lee was still sitting as if thunderstruck.

Unlike the rest of the Mu-Team, who had no idea that there was something going on, Tilian watched the whole scene carefully.

'And she is good,' he thought with a smirk.

The rest of the evening was nothing special as well, except for Lee failing in his efforts not to look at Sophie. Which, of course, Sophie was pretty much aware of.

'Good,' she thought with an inward smile of contentment, 'Very, very good.'

Soon, the Mu-Team left one by one, with Tilian being the last, leaving Sophie and Lee alone.

After a few minutes, Sophie gracefully rose from her seat, her waist on one level with Lee's face. Lee felt his throat go dry.

"Well… I'd better go too, I think I'm a little tired after today's trip to the city," Sophie turned around, completely ignoring how Lee was now devouring her with his eyes, his mind a little hazed after a glass of wine he had drunk over the dinner. Sophie headed for the door and went out of the room.

"Goodnight, Mr.Lee," she turned around to wave at him, as she was standing in the doorway.

"G-… Goodnight, Sophie," he barely managed to get out of himself, watching her slim hips swaying as she walked away, and the door slid closed.

After a few moments of complete silence, Lee finally broke from his trance. With a loud groan, he buried his face in his hands.

'What was I thinking?!' the rational part of him yelled.

'But she so s...' the other part started.

'NO!' his mind yelled again. 'Don't even think about it!'

'Yes, but...'

'You are not SUPPOSED to be thinking like that! You don't have time for this!'

Unable to argue with himself anymore, Lee rose up and marched away to his room, hoping that sleep would finally bring some clarity to his troubled mind.

Sophie meanwhile managed to get to her room without yelling and jumping around with joy. As soon as the door slid closed behind her...

"YES!!!"

Sophie threw herself on her bed, almost laughing.

'It worked! I did it! He's SO in for me!' Sophie buried her head in the pillow, giggling.

'The look he had when he saw me and when I was leaving... And at the table, when his napkin "accidentally" fell down, and I picked it up...' Sophie had another "giggle attack" as she recalled that evening's events.

Once she finally calmed down, Sophie got up, took a shower, changed and made her bed.

'Ok,' she thought, looking at herself in the bathroom mirror, 'Stage one is complete. He started falling for me, and he's having quite a troublesome night tonight. Now I'll have to think over my next move.'

Sophie had no idea what a chance fate would very soon present her...

Another few days passed without anything noteable happening... Well, except for the slight tention between Sophie and Lee, since Sophie continued putting on the 'items from her new wardrobe'.

Now, Sophie was lying on her bed once again, an open book she had just been reading lying beside her. The girl closed her eyes and recalled the events of the past few days: Lee had brought a boy to the base, his name was... Duke? Yes, Duke Kingston. As Sophie had learned from Tilian, the boy was the younger brother of one of the Alpha Teens Lee wanted to use to 'help' him fix the hardlight vehicle. Later that day, Lee had come back relatively pleased: the plan had worked, he now had a hardlight vehicle.

Today Lee sent his Mu-Team to Landmark again, but Sophie had no idea what for. Not that she really cared.

The girl looked at her bedside clock.

"11p.m."

She sighed.

'I'd better go check on Mr.Lee and others.'

With that decided, Sophie headed to Lee's lab.

Just as she was walking along the last corridor towards the lab, the door slid open and the Mu-Team left the lab.

'Why do they look like they've just eaten a truck of lemons?..' Sophie thought.

"Hey, guys! How did the mission go? Is everyth...," but Sophie never finished the sentence, as the Mu-Team marched past her, as if she wasn't even there, which got Sophie.

"Hey! What's the big idea?! In case, you haven't noticed, I'm talking to you!" she yelled at them, her fists balled. No one was ignoring HER, especially not after she had tried so hard to be noticed by people.

"The mission was a failure," was all Tilian said, without even looking at the girl.

"Huh?.."

But the Mu-Team were already gone.

Sophie stood there for some time, processing what had just happened.

'"The mission was a failure"... Uh-oh, this is bad,' Sophie thought, glancing at the door to the lab.

She carefully walked to it and, taking a deep breath, entered.

...The lab was empty.

'What the...?' Sophie looked around again, making sure she didn't miss anything, 'Has he already left to his room? No, I doubt it.'

Sophie headed towards the common rest room. Just as she expected, she found Lee sitting on a sofa, his face buried in his hands. Although Sophie couldn't see his face, she was pretty much sure he was exhausted, angry, disappointed and annoyed.

'Perfect,' she smirked to herself, 'Just what I need. Well, let stage two begin.'

And fixing her short, black turtle-neck dress with a wide belt, she stepped into the room.

A/N: Well, Sophie is up to no good. grins evilly What is it? Read in next chapter! Oh, and please leave me a review! big tear-filled puppy eyes


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own A.T.O.M. and never will. Unfortunately. But I do own the idea of this fic and the new characters I introduced.

A/N: Ok… THIS is the long awaited chapter! I had SO much fun writing it! I hope you'll enjoy it as much.

Hostage.

Chapter Seven.

Hearing footsteps behind him, Lee pried his head away from his hands and prepared to snap something at the unlucky Mu-Team member who had just entered. To his surprise, however, he saw Sophie. In a black mini dress fitting her figure, black silk stalkings and black high-heels, her slim legs perfectly exposed. Lee gulped subconciously.

"What are you doing here?" he inquired sharply, sharper than he had wanted it to sound. Sophie, however, did not react. Instead, she glanced at him and headed towards the mini-bar.

Sophie took out the bottle of whisky and a glass. Pouring double portion into the glass and not adding any ice, she headed towards the circular sofa Lee was sitting on. Sophie put the glass on the table in front of the blonde man and sat down opposite him.

"Here," she said gesturing towards the glass, "You look like you had a bad day."

At first, Lee was taken aback. Then he lazily leaned forwards and took the glass in his hands. He looked at the dark liquid skeptically for a few moments. Then he emptied the glass in one gulp, shutting his eyes tightly and sitting as if frozen on one spot for a few seconds, as the firy liquid sipped down his throat, warming him up a bit.

With a sigh Sophie stood up, took the empty glass and headed towards the mini-bar again.

'Just wonderful!' she thought happily, 'If he got dizzy after just one glass of wine... Let's see what THIS does to him!'

Sophie came back to the table with a refilled glass and gave it to Lee.

"Am I correct to assume that they failed?" Sophie asked, sitting now almost next to Lee.

At that comment, Lee dried the glass again.

He had never been the one to drink. In fact, he had always been a very cautious man when it came down to alcohol. But right now, he felt that every drop of it released him from the depression he had slowly been sinking in.

Sophie sighed again, as Lee meaninglessly looked at the empty glass in his hands.

"They failed," he stated in a dead voice, "Again."

There was a pause, which Sophie did not dare interrupt: she knew he hadn't finished yet.

"...Why?" Lee spoke again, still watching the glass in his hand, "Why do they keep failing every time?!"

His voice was now louder and filled with rage and despair, his grip tightened around the glass, threatening to squash it.

Sophie was slightly taken aback by that sudden little outburst. But then again, she had seen this coming, hadn't she?

Sophie carefully laid one of her hands above Lee's, and with the other she pried his grip open and placed the glass on the table for safety measures. Her other hand, however, stayed in Lee's. She felt him tighten the squeeze around it, and looked at him.

He was looking back at her, his mind now completely under the influence of the alcohol, his face expressionless, but his eyes dimmed with desire. Lee looked at her for several moments, and then slowly started closing in the gap between them.

'Here goes nothing,' Sophie thought, her mind crystal clear, pulling towards him as well.

...Their lips met...

At first the kiss was soft and tender, full of uncertainty. But then it became passionate and full of desire and need, especially on Lee's account.

Sophie felt Lee's hands sneak to her neck, then they travelled to her shoulders, arms and sides.

...How they got to his room, she did not remember. Neither could she clearly remember what happened afterwards. Only emotions and feelings, pain turning into pleasure, were carved in her memory now.

Did she plan it to got this far? No, not really. But, on the other hand, what else did she expect to happen eventually?

In either case, it didn't matter now, she thought, falling asleep in the arms of the man who had become her whole world in just a matter of weeks. After all, it had all started just as a game. But now it was so much more.

"I love you, Janus," Sophie whispered falling asleep, calling the man, in whose arms she lay and whose waist she tightly embraced, by his name for the first time.

She knew he hadn't heard her, as he had probably drifted off to sleep a long time ago, and yet she said those words, because at that very moment nothing was as vivid in her mind and sole as what she felt for the man beside her.

The following morning, however, brought a lot of confusion.

The first thing Lee knew as he began to resurface from his deep slumber, was that he was warm and very comfortable, although he had no idea of how he ended up like that. He slowly started trying to recall the events of the previous day.

He clearly remembered sending the Mu-Team on a mission to Landmark City, the mission they had failed disastrously. He had yelled at them of course, they apologized, he dismissed them and then... Then what?.. Oh, right, he went to the sitting room, terribly tired and frustrated at another defeat. And then Sophie came in and made him a drink, they talked and ...

And then there was nothing. He could NOT remember what happened after. There was a gap in his memory between the moment Sophie had come in and he had fallen asleep. He didn't even know if he was in his room right now, or if he had fallen asleep on that couch in the sitting room.

As hard as he tried, Lee could not fill in the gap. He had had a drink and felt better somehow... Then something happened... Yes, something important did happen, but what was it? There were only words he had heard before falling asleep:

_"I love you, Janus..."_

Lee's eyes flew open. The first thing he saw was the bright yellowishly green ceiling of the room he was in. He lay still in one spot trying to figure out where that recollection had come from. Then he blinked several times and shut his eyes tightly closed again.

He suddenly began to realize a few things about his current position. First, he was in a warm bed with silk sheets all around. Second, he was naked. (Ok, THAT was confusing!) And third, he could feel the touch of a smooth, yet alien skin against his own.

Lee opened his eyes again and looked to his left. He WAS in his bed, alright. But there, beside him, lay Sophie, embracing his waist, her head on his shoulder, and his own arm protectively wrapped around her.

Lee stared at the girl in his arms for a few moments. She was so beautiful, young and innocent... Her hair, her face, her skin, her body...

And then memories hit Janus Lee like a wall of bricks. Memories of the previous night.

He had drunk, a lot too much in fact, and the alcohol weakened his self control. He had been infatuated with Sophie before, but being a rational man he had always been, he managed to persuade himself that there could never have been anything between them. Under the influence of the alcohol, however, all his rationality had disappeared in a thin air. He gave in to his deepest desires, and now he would have to deal with consequences.

Lee let out a deep groan, closing his eyes again.

'What've I done?..'

To make things worse, he suddenly remembered tears escape Sophie's eyes at one point: he had been her first.

At that moment he felt the girl in his arms stir.

As sleep had finally let go of her, Sophie inhaled the pleasant smell, HIS smell. She smiled contentedly, snuggling closer to him. A few moments later, she felt someone rubbing her shoulder slightly, a sign that he had woken up as well. Grudgingly, Sophie opened her eyes and looked up at the face of her lover. He was staring back at her, or rather in thin air.

It took Lee several moments to realize that Sophie was awake and looking at him. His eyes focused on her. She smiled.

"Good morning."

That was the most beautiful smile he had ever seen. Lee looked at her with his mismatched eyes, studying her careless and happy face.

'How's that even possible?..'

He continued to look at her. She was so gorgeous, and he had corrupted that beauty, unlawfully stole her innocence...

Sophie watched Lee's face. He hadn't said a word so far, and there was some kind of an inner battle going on inside of him, she could tell from the expression on his face. He closed his eyes, and then suddenly sat up, burying his face in his hands. His head was pounding from yesterday's drinks, but that was the least of his worries right now.

Sophie looked at him, worried. She too sat up, holding the silk sheets to her chest with her right hand and placing her left one on Lee's shoulder.

"What is it?" she asked softly.

Lee sat with his face in his hands for a few more minutes.

"I... I'm so sorry... Sophie... We, I... I shouldn't have... I'm sorry..." he couldn't even look in her face, the shame of the night's dirty deed was strangling him.

"I'm not," Sophie suddenly interrupted him. At this point Lee was so surprised, that he turned to her sharply with a look of utter shock written all over his face.

He was somehow expecting to see pain, offence and hate on her face, but not the kindness and happiness it was shining with now.

"I love you, Janus," she repeated the words from the night before. And as if to prove it, she leaned forwards and kissed him.

Lee did not expect any of this, to say the least. His eyes widened a fraction, as he felt Sophie's lips on his own. He did not respond at first, but as the kiss deepened, he gave in to the incredible feeling of flight.

As they parted, Sophie looked at Lee again. She could still see doubt and something close to fear in his eyes, but she knew she had won this one. She smiled and playfully pulled her captor back down.

A/N: (ducks away from the flying stones) Don't kill me! PLEASE! Just… uhm… A review maybe?...


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own A.T.O.M. and never will. Unfortunately. But I do own the idea of this fic and the new characters I introduced.

And I don't own "Who Knew" by Pink. But the song is awesome!

A/N: Heya!!! Thanks for reviews everyone! Well, here's the next chapter! By the way, I've used the song "Who Knew" by Pink here, I hope you've heard that one, and if you haven't, I totally recommend you, because the song is great!

Hostage.

Chapter Eight.

The following few days were like a fairy tale for Sophie. And for Lee. Of course, he was afraid at first, he tried to convince Sophie that this was all wrong, that he was almost twice her age, ('Good thing he still doesn't know I'm seventeen,' Sophie thought at one point.) and that SHE had a life to live, while he had lived the most part of his.

"Maybe you should've thought of this before you took me with you on that helicopter," Sophie smiled crossing her arms.

"But I..." Lee stopped mid-sentence. He had nothing to retort to that.

Sophie smiled in triumph. The man was sometimes so unlucky when arguing with her. And that's why an idea came to her mind.

"Take me to town today," she said suddenly.

"What?! No, I can't and..." Lee was taken aback by Sophie's sudden request, but never got the chance to finish the sentence, as Sophie had already snaked her arms around his neck and silenced him with a kiss.

"And why not?" she asked smirking as they parted. His shoulders slumped in defeat. He had learned by now that he could not refuse her.

Sophie giggled at Lee's defeated look.

"Well then, see you in the hall!" Sophie left for her room to get ready for the trip, leaving Lee to himself.

As the girl entered her room, she headed for her wardobe to pick out an appropriate outfit. It was close to the end of August, but the weather was still as good.

Suddenly Sophie's thoughts became very gloomy, her hands falling to her sides. The closer to September, the closer to her birthday and the beginning of the term.

'I will have to talk with Janus or come up with a way to hide the truth about myself,' Sophie thought. She somehow didn't feel safe to tell Janus of her age yet.

"Besides age is always something a girl keeps a secret," Sophie thought out loud.

'Yeah, but usually it's when they look or WANT to look younger than they are, not the other way around,' her mind retorted.

Sophie frowned at the idea.

_"If the guy is cute and you like him, get him. Even if you have to tell him that you are from the North Pole and work in a 'Protect Penguins' organization."_

Sophie burst out laughing at the memory of her friend, Krista. She cheered up a bit, and started changing.

In a white dress with brown, green and red flowers on every inch of it, light makeup and her hair loose, Sophie entered the hall fifteen minutes later. While she was walking, an idea suddenly stroke her: there WAS a reason why Lee couldn't go to town with her! How could she be so stupid for Heaven's sake!

Sophie quickly hurried to the hall. She knew Lee was already there.

"Listen, Janus, I'm so sorry, I was really stupid when I suggested this, I completely frogot that..." Sophie stopped mid-sentence and froze, as the man in the hall turned around to look at her.

It WAS Janus Lee, alright, Sophie could recognize him. But it was as if she was looking at his younger brother or something. He was like a younger version of himself, his hair shorter and less messy, the ever-present glasses gone, as well as a few wrinkles. He was not wearing his usual jump suit, but a sand-coloured costume and a black shirt.

Recovering from the shock, Sophie smiled brightly.

"Well, seems like you've taken care of the problem!"

Lee himself was once again taken aback by Sophie's appearance, her beauty. He stood frozen too, until the girl came up to him and took his hand in hers.

"Well, let's go!" she said brightly, and he complied.

"You look beautiful," he said.

"Thank you!" Sophie smiled again. "You look great too! To tell you the truth I had completely forgotten that the whole of Landmark City is after you when I asked you to go to the town with me. I'm sorry. And by the way, how did you take care of that problem so fast? Hardlight?"

Lee chuckled and nodded.

Soon the two were in town centre.

"So, where did you plan to go?" Lee asked.

"Uhm... How about the park?" Sophie suggested.

"Alright, then the park it is," Lee agreed, and the couple headed for the park.

As it was Tuesday, Landmark City central park wasn't too crowded. Janus and Sophie walked around, talked, joked and laughed. Sophie was glad to see Lee actually happy and having fun. And she felt quite proud of it: after all, it was her who made him smile for real at last.

A few hours and two portions of ice-cream later, Janus Lee was doing something he thought he'd never do in his whole life: he was lying on the lawn nearby the park lake, gazing at the sky, with Sophie lying next to him, her head rested on his shoulder, their hands interwined. Both were silent, as both felt no need for words. Somewhere close by, a gang of teenagers was having a picknic. They had a radio with them with random songs playing all the time. One saong, however, was one of Sophie's favorites.

"You took my hand

You showed me how

You promised me you'd be around

Uh huh

That's right

I took your words

And I believed

In everything

You said to me

Yeah huh

That's right

Is someone said three years from now

You'd be long gone

I'd stand up and punch them up

Cause they're all wrong

I know better

Cause you said forever

And ever

Who knew...'

Sophie didn't know why but the song somehow fitted the mood. And the girl had a strange feeling that the man beside her was now listening as well.

'...I wish I could remember

But I keep

Your memory

You visit me in my sleep

My darling

Who knew

My darling

My darling

Who knew

My darling

I miss you

My darling

Who knew

Who knew'

The song ended and another one started shortly afterwards. But Sophie was still under the impression of the song. She had listened to it a million times before, but somehow hearing it now made her feel different about it. Indeed, who knew she would ever meet her 'idol' again? And who knew she would end up as his lover after being taken hostage by him?

Lee was thinking exactly the same thing. Who knew that a simple girl he had taken hostage would change his life so much? Who knew he would end up in love with her?

Wait, what was that again?

Lee's eyes widened a fraction as he realized what he had just thought. He WAS in love with her. And he didn't see that one coming.

'Or maybe I did?..'

A few hours later Lee and Sophie were walking along the central Landmark City shopping gallery.

"Hey, look!" Sophie headed for the jewel shop stand. What she noticed was a pendent on a chain, made as a crystal-shaped emerald in a white-gold frame.

Lee looked at the skillfully made piece of jewel, then at Sophie, then back at the jewel.

"Hmm..."

Lee entered the shop. Surprised, Sophie followed.

"We would like to try on that emerald pendent," Lee told the shop assistant, who immediately dispatched the said item.

"Here," she said, politely smiling and helping Sophie fix the pendent.

It looked gorgeous. Sophie simply couldn't tear her eyes away from the jewel.

"Perfect," Lee said, also charmed by the way the pendent fitted Sophie, "We'll take it."

As the lady smiled and went away to get the receipt, Sophie wheeled around and stared at Lee.

"What?! But, Janus, I..."

"It's perfect on you," Lee interrupted. Sophie fell silent and just smiled, happiness shining on her face.

"Thank you," she whispered, "I will always keep it as a memory of you."

The rest of the day also went great. Lee took Sophie for dinner to one of the best restaurants in the city. After that they had another walk, and then headed back to the lab.

"Thank you for everything, Janus," Sophie said happily, as they were walking towards his room.

"What for?" Lee played a game of innocence. He knew Sophie would get annoyed. And he was right.

"You KNOW what I'm talking about, so quit, will you?" Sophie growled. Lee laughed again.

"Alright, alright," he rose his hands in mock defeat.

Sophie knew that Lee was trying to tease her. She smirked inwardly.

'My turn!'

"But, anyway, I think I know a way to thank you, after all," Sophie smiled cunningly, and before Lee could react, she was already kissing him, one hand blindly finding the button to open the door to his room.

A/N: Ok, this one was pretty hard to write, but I hope I didn't suck that much.)))


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own A.T.O.M. and never will. Unfortunately. But I do own the idea of this fic and the new characters I introduced.

A/N: Hey! Here I am again with a new chapter! Enjoy!

Huge thanks to two of my constant reviewers: Dragon-Ninjagirl and Selftitled And Loving It! Guys, I LOVE you, you're the best!!!

Hostage.

Chapter Nine.

Several more months flew by. The term started, and now Sophie was spending more and more time in the University. Lee still believed she was an assistant in administration, while Sophie was doing all her best not blow up her cover.

'Whoever said that life is no fun?' Sophie thought sarcastically marching down one of the University's corridors towards the library.

She couldn't even tell Janus about her birthday, which was in the very beginning of September, because she knew an immediate question of how old she was would follow. Not because he would want to know, but because he would ask out of habit, custom.

So Sophie kept silent. She received a call from her father and later they met in Landmark. Sophie realized as she talked to her dad that she could absolutely NOT lie to him. And so, at one moment, she broke down and spat everything out as it was: she was in love with a criminal scientist more than twice her age. The girl knew her father was a very calm, rational and cool person, but she had still expected him to... Well... Freak out or something.

"Well, the older he is, the sooner you'll get the inheritance. Just be sure to marry him."

And that was the first and almost the only thing her father had said about all of that.

Sophie was both shocked and relieved.

And now she was heading for the library to finish an assignment.

Sophie entered the grand University library and looked around. Immediately something, or rather someone, caught her eye.

Short brown hair, a thoughtful look in the book, a hand holding the head...

Krista.

Sophie marched towards her best friend with whom she had been so abruptly separated and whom she had not succeeded to contact so far.

"Guess who?" Sophie said cheerfully coming up to the desk Krista was occupying.

Slowly, Krista moved her face and eyes away from the book and to Sophie.

She stared.

A few moments later a shriek made everyone jump on their seats and look over at the two girls.

"Shh! Don't yell like this, everyone's staring!" Sophie grabbed her friend's sleeve and dragged her to the hall, mouthing apologies to everyone else.

"Sophie! You're alive!" Krista hugged her friend tightly as they were out of everyone's eyesight and earshot.

"You're about to fix that! Air, air!"

"Oh, sorry," Krista let her death grip go, allowing Sophie to breathe normally again, "I'm so happy that you're alright! Oh my God, I thought you were... Oh, goodness... What happened to you?"

"Well... It's a long story. But I have a short version," Sophie added quickly, seeing the look on her friend's face change, "But first tell me, how was your holidays?"

"Oh, it was awesome! You will NEVER believe what happened! This is simply incredible!" Krista said excitedly, as the two friends walked down the corridor.

"Then you don't know the meaning of the word 'incredible'," Sophie muttered rolling her eyes.

"What?" Krista asked, confused.

"No, nothing, go on, because my story is pretty long and a bit complicated," Sophie answered.

"Well..." Krista made a dramatic pause, preparing to break the big news, "I'm dating Steve McLaren!"

"Really?! Wow, my congratulations!" Sophie was sincerely happy for her friend: after all, Steve McLaren was the most prospective and wanted date on their faculty.

"How did it happen?" Sophie wondered, smiling brightly.

"Well, my parents and I went for vacations to Cyprus- an island in Mediterranean, you know-?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, go on-"

"And he and HIS parents were there too! It was suck a wonderful coincidence! I was SO happy! I mean, we had such a great time, swimming, surfing having cocktails and everything... And then when we came back, he asked me to date him!" Krista finished happily.

"Awesome! This is SO great!" Sophie hugged her friend.

"Now what about you?" Krista asked still excited, "What happened to you after that incident on the roof? How did you escape those psychos? And what did you do after that?"

"Wow, slow down a bit!" Sophie rose her hands in mock defense, "Well... First off, since you started it... I'm dating too..."

"Really?!! But that's AWESOME! Who is he? Is he cute? Do I know him? Is it serious between you two?" Krista was dying from curiosity, Sophie could see. But she started with the last question.

"Pretty much serious... I sleep with him," she blurted out.

"WHAT?!!!"

"Shh, quiet!" Sophie twitched at her friend's shriek, "The whole University doesn't have to know!"

"Ok, ok, ok, what did you just say? You sleep with him?" Krista lowered her voice, but the level of her curiousity only increased.

Sophie sighed and leaned with her back against the wall.

"Yes, that's how it is. But it's something more important... I love him, Krista," Sophie admitted quietly, but seeing the distrustful look her friend had given her, she quickly went on, "No, Krista, I love him, I really do, and I know what I'm talking about."

There was a long pause, during which Krista seemed to be taking in what Sophie had just said.

"Alright, well... That's great, isn't it? I mean, you found someone you care about and everything..." Krista had finally started realizing what Sophie was meaning. "But, hey, wait, wait, wait! Who IS he anyway?"

Sophie leaned her head against the wall and chuckled. She suddenly imagined Krista's reaction, different versions of it.

"Well..." she said slowly looking at Krista, still smiling, "It's Janus Lee."

The bomb was dropped.

At first Krista didn't even move, she just froze. Then she burst out laughing. Clutching her stomach, she stepped away from her friend, giggling all the way. Sophie watched her friend's reaction with amusement.

"Wh-who ever said you d-don't have a sence of humor... " Krista finally managed to speak through tears and laughter, "...Sh-should be k-killed!"

The girl continued to laugh, while Sophie simply smiled. But now it was not a smile of happiness or amusement, but just a simple facial gesture.

"I'm not joking," she finally said.

Krista, still giggling, looked up at her friend. Suddenly she stopped laughing, as she saw that the other girl, although smiling, was dead serious.

Krista froze again.

"You're kidding, right?" Krista asked, finally getting serious.

Sophie shook her head and continued to stare at her friend.

"Wait, you're NOT kidding," Krista stared at her friend for a few moments, completely serious now.

"To the café. Now," Krista marched down the hall dragging Sophie with her.

A few minutes later the two were sitting in the café near Landmark City University waiting for their coffee. Sophie told Krista of everything that had happened that summer.

"...and so now I have to play a very dangerous game of studying in the University and not exposing my little secret to Janus," Sophie finished her story, as Krista twitched once again when Sophie called Lee 'Janus'.

"And as far as I understand, you're doing a great job," Krista winked at her friend. "But when are you planning to tell him, anyway?"

At that, Sophie stared outside the window. Indeed, when was she planning to tell him?

"I- I don't know, Kris," Sophie said sowly, "I mean... I'm so afraid it'll ruin everything. He thinks I'm twenty something and he still tried to persuade me in the beginning that he's too old for me... I mean, what will he say when he knows I'm even underage?"

Krista chuckled darkly.

"Yeah, well... That's one big problem you have there, girl," she said.

Sophie sighed.

"Tell me about it," she complained, "And the worst thing is, the further it goes, the more I keep thinking about it. I just don't know what to do."

"Does he love you?" Krista asked suddenly.

The question caught Sophie off guard. Her eyes widened for a moment. Then she stared at the table.

"I... Well, yes, I mean I think so, although he never told me about it... But then again... Janus is not the kind of a person who would admit his feelings openly just like that," Sophie said unsurely.

Sophie stared at her hands. How could she be so stupid? Who ever told her that he loved her?

No, he couldn't love her. Not for real. It was just passion and lust. That's it. There was nothing more to their relationship. Well, at least on HIS account.

But SHE loved him, damn it!

'You stupid little girl,' her inner voice reproached her, 'You thought you were in charge of the game, but in the end YOU are the looser.'

Sophie felt her eyes burning.

"I'm sorry, Krista, I have to go," she said standing up abruptly. But as she was starting to walk away, Krista caught her arm. Sophie turned around and looked at her friend.

"Look, from what you've told me, Janus Lee does not seem to be the kind of a person who would go out to park with a girl- at the risk of being caught and put to jail, may I add,- and buy her an expensive jewel she saw and liked just because of a one night stand," Krista said. Then she smiled reassuringly, "Come on, I'm sure he has some feelings for you. Cheer up! After all, you have a point: it'll take him time to admit it!"

Sophie looked at her friend for several moments, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. And then she smiled weakly.

"Thank you, Krista," she said, her voice trembling a little. And then she left.

Krista watched her go until she could no longer see her.

'I hope you're going to be fine,' Krista thought with concern. Then she turned to look outside the window and noticed a newspaper lying beside her on the table. The first page featured another of Lee's and his Mu-Team's attacks on the city. The photo of Lee himself was on the cover.

'You'd better not hurt her, _Mr ._Janus Lee. Or else, I swear I find you and, no matter how many clones with amazing abilities you create, I'll seriously beat the crap out of you!' Krista thought angrily, looking at the photo of the man in question.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own A.T.O.M. and never will. Unfortunately. But I do own the idea of this fic and the new characters I introduced.

A/N: Ok, a chapter next to last…

Hostage.

Chapter Ten.

"Sophie, wake up! Wake up!"

With a groan Sophie pried her eyes open.

'What the hell...?' she thought, displeased at being woken up in the middle of the night.

Janus did not go to bed with her that evening. He said he had some important affairs to do, and Sophie left him without any further questions. They had been together for about seven months now. It was already January, but Janus still hadn't found out about Sophie's little secret. And he still hadn't told her what she so desperately wanted to hear from him.

"Sophie, wake up!" Lee sounded clearly alarmed, "I'm sorry, but you have to leave, now!"

Dead silence fell. Sophie's eyes went wide open at that moment. Did she hear him clearly? Did he just..?

The girl quickly sat up and looked at Lee.

"Wha... What are you talking about? Janus, I..." she stopped abruptly, having noticed Lee's face. He looked tired, worn out, worried and alarmed. Concern was shining in his eyes. Concern for her well-being.

"What happened?" Sophie asked in a grim tone, consumed by the feeling that something was terribly wrong.

"Sophie, listen to me carefully," Janus began, doing his best to keep his voice even, "You're going to pack your things now very quickly, get dressed and meet me in the hall. I will explain everything to you later. Do you understand?"

If the first part of his utterance made her scared and confused, the last question made her mad.

"I DON'T, but I'll do as you say," she answered in a slightly annoyed voice, doing her best to control her nerves, as she was somewhere between 'very mad' and 'very panicking'.

Lee nodded and left, while Sophie did as she had been told: she packed her things in a relatively small bag, got dressed and went down to the hall.

Janus was already there. He looked a little bit more confident now, though. But still Sophie knew that something was terribly wrong. She also noticed that he had his hardlight suit on.

"Sophie, come here," he told her. She approached him carefully, not really sure what to expect from him.

"Janus, what happened?"

He only took both of her hands, and closed his eyes. Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light. Sophie had already gotten used to that kind of transportation. Lee had used his suit to transport them quite often.

However, she was confused when they had reappeared somewhere on the fresh air and definitely far away from the mountains.

As Lee let go of her, Sophie looked around. To her utter surprise they were standing on the roof of one of the Landmark City University buildings.

beginning of the melody

Sophie stepped away towards the edge of the roof. It was snowing. For a long time now. The ground, all buildings, cars and everything else was covered in snow. The light of the street lamps reflected on its whiteness making night seem more like a day. A light wind blew all the time. Apart form it, everything else was silent.

Sophie suddenly had a very strange feeling. All the panic and fear she had felt were now gone, replaced with something else… Sorrow. She realized where she was. She realized what HE had just done. He brought her back. Back to the very same roof Krista had lead her to all those months ago. To the very roof where she had been knocked out and unintentionally kidnapped. To the very roof, where everything had started. He brought her back here. That could only mean one thing: he had no further use of her, neither did he have any feelings for her at all.

All the events that had happened in the past several months - all the happy moments they shared, all the love and passion and joy, - everything flashed in Sophie's mind. She felt a lump in her throat, her eyes began to burn. She turned around and silently stared at Lee. His eyes were full of sorrow too now.

"Why?.." was all Sophie managed to whisper at first. Gradually she gained control over her voice again and continued a little louder now: "Why did you bring me here?"

"I…" Lee did not know how to explain it to her, "Sophie, there is much you don't know about my past. There are some things I have done… I cannot say I'm proud of them. And now… Now is a payback time."

Sophie looked at him, confused. What was he trying to tell her?

"I don't understand…" she whispered.

Lee sighed.

"There are people… Who do not want me to live. And those people would do anything to get to me. They are dangerous. More dangerous than you could ever imagine. And in order to get to me, they will hurt those who are precious to me," Lee looked up at Sophie, "I can't let this happen."

Sophie's eyes widened. Precious...? Was he saying that she was… precious to him? Sophie felt her heart clench. She should be happy, she thought. That's what she wanted to hear from him for a very long time now. But not like this… The girl shut her eyes tightly, tears starting to run down her face.

There was a silence.

"Sophie, you have to…" Lee hesitated to continue. He couldn't. He felt he couldn't go on, for he knew that the next words he said would shatter her heart. But he had to. For her own good, he had to hurt her now, before anything bad happened to her. He just had to.

"You have to stay away from me."

He said those words in the harshest tone he could manage in that situation. But he couldn't bear looking at her, he couldn't bear seeing her hurt and heart-broken. Especially since he was to be blamed for that. So he turned away, facing her with his back. Then he started to walk away slowly, doing all his best to keep himself from turning back, running to her, embracing and comforting her, saying that he had never meant it, that it was just an act...

"_You have to stay away from me…"_

Sophie's eyes flew wide open. She suddenly felt as if her heart had been sliced through by the sharpest of the weapons. She had anticipated the worst, yes, but she didn't know it would hurt so much.

Like in a slow motion, she watched him walk away. And suddenly something broke in her. No. She couldn't… She just couldn't let him go!

And she ran after him, tears now freely streaming down her face.

"No!"

She threw her arms around him, embracing his waist from behind and pressing against his back, clinging to him as if to her dear life. She was now crying openly, sobbing against him, tears running down her face as never before in her life.

"No! Please, don't go!" she sobbed, "I… I can't… I won't make it without you… I love you… Don't you get it?! I love you!"

Her voice broke down at that point.

Lee did not expect any of this. He was walking away, bitterly regretting what he had just done, when he heard her footsteps against the snow, and a moment later felt her cling to him tightly from behind, and it seemed as if nothing in the world would make her let go of him.

She was crying, shaking violently against him.

Her words… Lee seemed to have frozen in a spot at her words. Of course, she had told him that she loved him before, but now… But now it was completely different.

'She said as if she is willing to give up anything for me… Anything in the world…'

The idea affected the man deeply. His eyes widened, and he too felt a lump in the throat.

And so they stood there like that for what seemed like eternity. Finally, Lee broke down too. He couldn't take it anymore. He turned around and embraced her tightly, as if too clinging to the most important thing in his life.

"I'm sorry…" he whispered in a shaky voice, "I'm so sorry… Please, forgive me…"

And Sophie cried. She cried as if she was crying out all the pain she had ever felt in her life. And he just stood there, doing his best to comfort her.

Some time later, Sophie finally calmed down and looked up at Lee. Her eyes asked him a silent question, searching his eyes for an answer.

"Janus..?" Sophie finally managed to speak. He looked down at her with his mismatched eyes. His expression was clear now, with no traces of fear, sorrow or regret. He was serious, and what he was about to say would be of great importance.

"Listen to me, Sophie," he started, "I have never told you anything about myself, but a long time ago I… messed up with the people who should never have been messed up with. Now, they're after me. They have found out that I lied to them, and they want a payback. As long as I have someone dear to me around, both me and this person – you, in particular, - will be in grave danger."

Sophie looked alarmed now. But before she could interrupt, he cupped her face with both of his hands and continued:

"Sophie, I can take care of that problem. I'll deal with it in a due time. I promise you. Then I'll return, and we'll see each other again," he said quietly, meaning every word of it. The girl nodded softly, forcing a sad smile on her face.

Lee let go of her, and was about to leave, when Sophie stopped him once again, gently holding to his wrist. He looked around at her.

Sophie hesitated for a moment, then she took the emerald pendent off her neck, the one that Lee had bought her when they had gone to the town together for the first time.

"Here," she said, laying the pendent in his hand, "I want you to take it and keep it until your comeback. I want you to promise me… That you'll return to me, that we'll see each other again, no matter what happens."

Sophie's voice was strong and determined now. They looked into each others' eyes for a moment. Then Lee smiled.

"I promise," he said. And taking the pendent, he leaned to Sophie and kissed her.

The kiss did not last long. Through her closed eyelids, Sophie saw a flash of bright light. He was gone. She could now feel only the chilling winter night air on her lips.

She opened her eyes slowly and stared at the spot Lee had been in a few moments ago. She smiled sadly, but her heart was tightly clenched. It was as if Sophie knew it was the last time she had seen him.

A/N: Reviews anyone? Hehe…


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own A.T.O.M. and never will. Unfortunately. But I do own the idea of this fic and the new characters I introduced.

A/N: Well, here's the last chapter of this story… Enjoy! And I'm sorry if you don't like the ending, but there's Arc 2 already written and Arc 3 soon to come!

Hostage.

Chapter Eleven.

Sophie shut the book she had been reading and sighed, leaning her head backwards against the bedwall. She closed her eyes and listened. It was raining. Heavy droplets were mercilessly hitting the windows of the apartment her father had bought a couple months before in the centre of Landmark City. Everything was dark outside, as it was almost nighttime.

Some random songs were playing on the radio Sophie kept turned on. The songs were seldomly interrupted by the news reports and the weather casts, that in fact promised nothing but continuous rain for another two weeks.

'How ironic,' Sophie thought, smiling bitterly, 'Why is it always raining here in August?'

After a few more minutes of lying in the same position, Sophie finally forced herself to get off the bed. She came up to her table, put the book on it and started searching for some papers.

"...Well, that was definitely this week's top hit song!" the DJ on the radio announced, as another 'crappy tune', as Sophie called them, ended.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," the girl continued to look through her papers, then at last finding what she needed. Of course, she knew that talking with the radio was stupid and, what's more, absolutely pointless, but she just couldn't resist the urge of making fun of the over-emotional DJ.

"...And now, another hit song! I'm sure most of you know it, and for those who don't remember: it's 'Who Knew' by Pink!"

And as soon as the DJ announced the song, it started playing.

**"You took my hand**

**You showed me how**

**You promised me you'd be around**

**Uh huh**

**That's right..."**

Sophie froze in one spot, the papers she had been holding, slowly landing back on the table.

'No!' she thought desperately, recognizing the song at once.

**"...I took your words**

**And I believed**

**In everything **

**You said to me**

**Yeah huh**

**That's right..."**

And suddenly Sophie felt her heart ache so badly, that she wanted to scream. The memories she had been so desperately trying to erase from her mind rushed back on her at once.

She remembered how she had heard the song in the park, lying on the grass with HIM beside her...

**"...If someone said three years from now**

**You'd be long gone**

**I'd stand up and punch them up**

**Cause they're all wrong..."**

She remembered how she had kissed him for the first time... Yes, he had been tired and vulnerable, and she had taken advantage of that, but neither of them ever regretted that later...

**"...I know better**

**Cause you said forever**

**And ever**

**Who knew..."**

She remembered how he had reacted the following morning and she had reassured him that everything was fine...

**"...Remember when we were such fools**

**And so convinced and just too cool**

**Oh no**

**No no..."**

"_You wanted to tell something to Stingfly, Mr.Lee?" she asked, still smiling._

_Lee shifted his eyes to meet hers, and simply stared at her again, as if processing what he had just been told. Sophie laughed a little, casting her gaze down, and then looking back up at Mr.Lee._

"_Stingfly, Mr.Lee," she said, gesturing towards Stingfly with her head, "You wanted to tell him something, I believe."_

_Lee slowly looked away from Sophie to Stingfly._

"_Oh, uhm… N-never mind…" he cleared his throat and proceeded towards the table, doing his best not to stare at her._

**"...****I wish I could touch you again**

**I wish I could still call you friend**

**I'd give anything..."**

_He stood there looking in her eyes, his palm cupping her cheek, and her palm cupping his._

**"...When someone said count your blessings now**

**For they're long gone..."**

_She threw her arms around him, embracing his waist from behind and pressing against his back, clinging to him as if to her dear life. She was now crying openly, sobbing against him, tears running down her face as never before in her life._

"_No! Please, don't go!" she sobbed, "I… I can't… I won't make it without you… I love you… Don't you get it?! I love you!"_

**"...I guess I just didn't know how**

**I was all wrong..."**

"_I promise," he said. And taking the pendent, he leaned to Sophie and kissed her._

**"...They knew better..."**

_The newspaper slipped out of her hands and fell down to the floor with a rustle..._

_Dead. Gone. For good._

_The pain from that realization made her fall. And even before she hit the ground, her heart shattered into pieces..._

**"...Still you said forever **

**And ever..."**

And once again Sophie was on her knees, trying to suppress the sobs, tears running down her face uncontrollably.

She could not- she would not- ever forget that pain. There was no way to cry out or remedy that wound.

**"...Who knew..."**

Sometimes she regretted ever giving Janus the pendent. If she hadn't given it to him, she would now at least had a reminder… Of those times. Of her Love.

"…**Yeah, yeah**

**I'd keep you locked in my head…"**

Of him.

"…**Until we meet again **

**Until we**

**Until we meet again…"**

Suddenly Sophie felt bright light pierce through her closed eyelids. Slowly Sophie forced her eyes to open, shielding them with her hand. Surprisingly, she found her room all wrapped in bright light. Then there was a flash, and the light was gone.

No, the light was still there, but it formed a human silhouette…

Sophie stared in amazement, tears still slowly rolling down her cheeks.

Then, a voice spoke.

"…**And I won't forget you my friend **

**What happened…"**

"Sophie…"

The girl froze, her eyes widening.

That voice…

HIS voice!

"…**If someone said three years from now**

**You'd be long gone**

**I'd stand up and punch them up**

**Cause they're all wrong…"**

"J-…Janus?!" Sophie could barely speak and understand what was happening, "But you… But I… You…"

She could swear she saw the silhouette smile.

"I told you I'd come back, didn't I?" he said, his voice echoing.

"…**and **

**That last kiss**

**I'll cherish**

**Until we meet again…"**

Sophie stared at him. And suddenly tears began to flow down her cheeks with a new force. She didn't cry, neither did she say anything.

"I couldn't leave without fulfilling my promise," Lee spoke.

"…**And time makes**

**It harder**

**I wish I could remember**

**But I keep**

**Your memory…"**

He then bent down near her. Sophie had to close her eyes because of the bright light.

And then she felt it…

His lips on hers, once again…

It felt different this time. But Sophie didn't care. She just didn't want this to end.

"…**You visit me in my sleep**

**My darling**

**Who knew…"**

And then the light was gone. And the feeling of his lips against hers was gone as well.

Sophie opened her eyes and stared once again into the empty space.

"…**My darling**

**My darling**

**Who knew…"**

But there was something in Sophie's hand, and she had just now realized it. She looked down at her hand, not daring to move it, and saw the pendent.

"…**My darling**

**I miss you**

**My darling…"**

"I will always be there with you…" a dim voice spoke from out of nowhere.

"…**Who knew…"**

Yes. He will be. Sophie knew that.

She stood up and smiled. And for the first time in a very long while, it was a true and sincere smile.

"…**Who knew****."**

A/N: Well? Watcha say? The second arc is "A Second Chance" by Dragon-Ninjagirl. Enjoy!


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